The good, the bad, and the ugly

My news can be roughly divided into The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good

I’m in a good groove with the meds. This is what my carefully thought out routine looks like -

• When I get up – anti biotic, artesunate, grapefruit seed extract (GSE) x2, nattokinase.
• With lunch  - multi vitamin, glutathione, alpha lipoic acid, B complex
• 4 hours after anti biotics – pro biotics x 3, artesunate, Interfase
• Hour later – Nystatin
• Dinner – magnesium, l-carnitine, CoQ10, Vit D, 2nd anti biotic, GSE
• 4 hours later – pro biotics x 2, artesunate, Interfase
• Hour later – Nystatin
• Before bed – anti biotic, GSE x 2, artesunate, nattokinase

This totals around 30 pills a day, which is about my limit. I don’t take as many of the supplements as I’m meant to be on. I may be a lean, mean, pill swallowing machine, but 30 is my limit. Beyond that and my stomach starts to mutiny.

I saw my GP for some routine blood test forms to make sure my liver and kidneys aren’t packing up and to generally see how my little red and white cell armies are getting on. She was surprisingly lovely. So lovely in fact, I wondered why I’d put off seeing her for months. Last time I saw her she was arsey and unhelpful. I think she was licking her wounds from being proven wrong about me having lyme in the first place. This time however she was completely different, she was smiley and lovely. It was like she actually believed I have lyme disease. Shocking! I did mention that ‘the proof is in the pudding – I’m getting better’ Just to really rub it in that I was right all along. Petty? Yes. After what I’ve been through with trying to get GPs to listen to me? Understandable. This time though, lovely.  She even gave me two sets of forms, so I don’t even need to see her again when I need another test.

This has never happened to me before, ever. Maybe she’s done some research into lyme, or maybe she was visited by the ghost from A Christmas Carol and told to change her ways. Yeah, that’s what it was.

Another good thing is my bowels. They’ve been much happier since I stopped drinking cow juice. I appeared to have got an intolerance to it out of nowhere. Unfortunately this also means giving up my beloved cheese. RIP extra mature farmhouse cheddar. You’ll always have a special place in my heart – probably around that cholesterol laden bit of artery.

Don’t be sad Ms Cow. I still want to eat you. Just not the stuff from your udders.

The Bad

I had a bad 24 hours. I’m not entirely sure what was happening in the world of Decima’s body. I couldn’t breathe, it wasn’t a mechanical fault, it was the usual just can’t get enough air, but much more acutely. I felt like a goldfish that has been cruelly dragged out of the bowl and plonked on the kitchen counter, staring up at a hungry looking cat. That was me, gulping for air and with a feeling of impending doom. I added it to my list of ‘times I should probably have called an ambulance’. I didn’t because, let’s face it, what’s an A&E doctor going to know about Babesia, most doctors haven’t even heard of it. My other symptoms flared, muscle pain and weakness, dizziness, nausea. But then it all disappeared as quickly as it came on.

The Ugly

I appear to be keeping the candida at bay thanks to the nystatin and grapefruit seed extract combo although I still get the odd bit of itching down below. Lovely eh? Luckily, being a jobless bum, I can sit on the sofa and scratch as much as I like.

Talking of scratching, my back’s been very itchy lately. It’s like there are ants all over it. I’ve scratched so much that I have scratch marks and welts, I probably look like I’ve been put in a bull fighting ring with several feral cats. I’ve always been an itchy kind of person, especially as my hormones have always been a bit dodgy which means for most of my post-pubescent life my back has been oilier than a run aground tanker. I had pus filled volcano spots that bled when I scratched them, which would then form even itchier scabs. I was on a form of the pill for years and it was like being in someone else’s skin, it was so un-itchy, I felt so calm and relaxed. No oil, no spots, no blood stained t-shirts, no dandruff. Bliss. I’d just grown out of this teenage hell by the age of about 25, and had a good year of being ‘normal’. Then the lyme came, and the spots returned. The epic anti biotics stop the spots getting pus filled and huge, but I’m still oily and itchy.

Oh I’m such a catch.

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